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Stats: Experiences Drive Trends

People aren’t buying products, they are buying experiences. At least that’s the opinion of Tom Mirabile, the International Housewares Association’s trend expert, who spoke during the recent 2019 International Home + Housewares Show. Mirabile’s annual keynote, “Top Trend 2019: New Consumer Insights and How to Thrive in the Retail Revolution,” brought up a number of points about…

Trends: Making Food Safe at Home

It is great to teach cooking classes, hold demos and inspire home cooks to purchase cookware, gadgets and other fun kitchen tools, but as anyone who has worked in a serious restaurant kitchen knows, food safety is the first priority. Professionals in the food service industry learn how to best make food safe for their patrons, but how much of that gets through to consumers…

International Home + Housewares Show Changes Name

Next year, the International Housewares Association is changing the name of its flagship trade show from the International Home + Housewares Show to The Inspired Home Show, IHA’s Global Home + Housewares Market. The change, which was announced at the recently completed 2019 International Home + Housewares Show, is part of the Association’s expansion of The Inspired Home…

Retail Profile: Artichoke

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Owners: Karen and Brad Hughes Founded: 2016 Square Footage: 883 sq. ft. Own or Rent: Own If you can’t shop at Artichoke in person, you can visit via a virtual reality version of the Cincinnati store. Available on the Artichoke website, the virtual store allows customers to get acquainted before they come in, something owners Brad and Karen…

Trends: Snacking Still in Favor

Despite eating trends ranging from intermittent fasting to advice to “eat three square meals,” at the end of the day, Americans like to snack. That’s according to research firm The NPD Group, which studies these things and has released its Future of Snacking report. And apparently there is a future in snacking. “Snack foods continue to evolve both as between-meal snacks and…

Retailers Search for Trends

As market season peaks with the upcoming International Home + Housewares Show, buyers are putting on their forecasting glasses and searching for the trends that will let them stock stores with merchandise consumers won’t be able to resist. It is a tall task, from finding the right gadget to deciding whether to add a small electric appliance to the mix to wondering whether…

Retail Profile: The Pot Rack

Location: Leavenworth, Kan. Founded: 2008 Owners: Ollie and Kathryn West Square Footage: 3,500 sq. ft. Own or Rent: Own After careers in the military and then second careers in the corporate world, Ollie and Kathryn West “retired” into a third career in retail. The pair opened The Pot Rack on the main drag of Leavenworth, Kan., a historic town they both call home, in…

Stats: Politics Plays Role in Shopping

When former Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill coined the phrase “All politics is local,” he didn’t know it at the time, but he could have been talking about retailing. According to a recent survey conducted by the NPD Group, consumers are paying closer attention than ever to politics these days and it is changing the way they shop. In a recent a survey, “The Holiday…